Tears on a Jacket
by crowskisses
Summary: Bonnie is full of tears, but sometimes when Bonnie cries it's not for herself.  Set between the Fury and DR.


Summary: Bonnie cries a lot, but sometimes when Bonnie cries it's not just for herself. Set between _The Fury _and _Dark Reunion. _

Rating: K

Disclaimer: I don't own a thing!

A/N: Found this little diddy in a notebook at my parent's house. It was originally written when I first read TVD, so sometime in the late nineties... Enjoy little crowskisses writing and leave reviews so the pre teen in me can jump for joy :)

Teardrops on a Jacket

Bonnie stared down at the test in front of her and sighed. She knew half the answers were wrong, she also knew staring at them for another twenty minutes wasn't going to magically make them right. She'd never been good at math and since Elena's death...well she'd become downright terrible. The most she could hope for this six weeks was a C and most of that would probably be pity passing. She glanced up at the clock, 4:20, school had ended twenty minutes ago and she was one of a few students still trying on this blasted trigonometry test.

Twenty extra minutes was enough for her, she grabbed her bag quietly and walked up to the teacher's desk. She handed her test in with an apologetic smile and a whispered, "Thank you for the extra time."

A quick trip to the bathroom and she was outside, free for spring break. She knew there was no chance Meredith had waited twenty minutes to drive her home, not when her harpsichord lesson started so soon after school. Bonnie began walking with only a glance back at the school doors when they swung open. Tyler had apparently given up as well and turned in his test, "Hey Bonnie! Wait up."

Her stomach turned, but she found herself waiting the moment for him to catch up. "How do you think you did?"

"I definitely passed, Ms. Kay digs me." He was flashing her a big wolfy smile.

Bonnie didn't even fight rolling her eyes, "Not everyone is into you, Tyler."

"Whatever you say, babe." Another animal grin and he stepped closer as he looked around. "Where's Meredith?"

"She's got a lesson." Bonnie glanced around too, suddenly noticing that they seemed to be the only two people left at school. Tyler's car was the only one in the lot.

Tyler seemed well aware of the fact too. "Need a ride home? I only live a few blocks away..."

This time Bonnie fought back her shiver. Everyone in Fells Church only lived a few blocks from each other, Tyler's house was on the nice side near Meredith and Caroline's houses. She took a step away, then another. "I think I'll walk, but thanks anyway."

He was a step behind her, his meaty, sweaty hand grabbing her upper arm. "C'mon, Bonnie. Don't be like that."

"Like what?" Adrenaline and fear were humming in her now, she would use the patented McCullough double knee to the groin if she needed too. She remembered well enough what had happened when Elena had gone for a ride with Tyler.

"Such a tease, babe." He had the gall to wink at her, not bothering to let go of her arm.

She tried pulling her arm out, only to have his fingers tighten. Her voice sounded high and nervous even to her own ears, "I'm not a tease!"

"All those short skirts? C'mon, Bonnie! It's barely March...what's a guy to think?" His fingers were still tightening.

Her skirts were short because they were all hand me downs from her older sisters and the thing nobody realized about hand me downs was they shrunk. Why didn't anyone realize that? She was too busy thinking about her skirts and how to get out of the situations she hadn't bothered to reply. Suddenly, she realized her arm was really hurting and Tyler was pulling her towards the parking lot.

She dug her feet into the concrete, or tried anyway, trying to rip her arm free again. "I said no!"

"It's just a ride, babe." He was dragging her off the curb now. Her mind was buzzing, prophecy trying to break free. She did _not_ want to get in that car.

The school doors swung open again and Matt strolled out, head down. Bonnie could only see the letter jacket out of the corner of her eye, but she had to try one more time. "No, Tyler!"

"Hey! What's going on here?" Matt's voice was firm, but it lacked the fire it had held before Elena's death.

Tyler's grin was easy, though his grip on her arm was like iron. "Just giving Bonnie a ride home, man."

Matt took his time looking between them and could clearly see the pleading in her brown eyes. "Bonnie and I had plans to study after school."

"Study? On the Friday before Spring Break?" Tyler sounded skeptical.

Bonnie was starting to loose feeling to her hand, but she tried to be convincing and aimed for a reasonable air. "Well, we're both currently failing Trig and it would be nice to graduate."

Matt didn't bother with reasonable or nice, "Let go of her, Tyler."

"Or what, Honeycutt?" It was a definite challenge.

Matt's blue eyes were thawing, a touch of fury glinting there. Bonnie watched as the fury rose and rose, Matt was absolutely spoiling for a fight. Surprisingly, Tyler saw it too and decided his best option was to duck out before it got ugly. Tyler didn't like fights he knew he couldn't win. Abruptly, he released her arm and with an attempt at bravado gave them a shaky smile, "Have fun studying."

Bonnie's pride kept her from rubbing her arm or saying anything until Tyler was safely in his car, starting it up. She simply stared at Matt, awed at the spark of life that seemed to be lingering in the blue eyes. "Thanks."

He nodded, his shoulders slumping a bit. "Did he hurt you?"

She rubbed at her arm, there would definitely be a bruise, but she was fine. "No."

He watched Tyler's car leave the parking lot. "So."

"So." She said back, awkwardly. They hadn't really talked a ton since the awful winter dance. Not that Bonnie hadn't tried, Matt had simply shut down and part of that meant shutting out Bonnie and Meredith.

"Do you want to study?" He half blurted it.

Bonnie made a face, the last thing she wanted to do was study. "What would we study? We just had a test."

"Yeah." He looked a bit disappointed and something occurred to Bonnie. Had he meant study, or _study?_

"I'm going to fail." She blurted it out, she really did need a barrier between her mind and her mouth.

"You always say that and you never actually do." Matt's feet were moving now and she fell into step with him.

How many years had they been in math together now? Too many, Bonnie gave him a little nudge. "Because I usually cheat off you."

He gave her a half hearted smile, "If you did you would fail. I should at least walk you home."

Well gee, if you put it like that it makes a girl jump for joy! Bonnie's pride got in her way again and she shook her head, "No, I'm not going home."

"Walk you to Meredith's?" Matt offered.

She shook her head again, that would be twice as far as Matt's own house. "I was going to go see...Elena."

Pain crept into his blue eyes and he glanced away from her, in the general direction of the graveyard. "Alone? I'm not going to let you go to the graveyard alone with Tyler out and about."

"I'll call Meredith." She offered it, suddenly annoyed with the protectiveness everyone always had for her. She may look twelve, but she was seventeen!

Matt gave her exasperated look, "How? School's closed."

"Well, I'm going. You can walk yourself home, Matt Honeycutt!" To make her point she took a left down Ash street, heading for the graveyard.

He kept time with her, walking in silence. About halfway down the street he finally spoke again, "I should go with you...besides I haven't gone as often as I should."

She shivered from the wind, suddenly feeling bad. Matt hadn't gone at all. This was as hard for Matt as it was natural for Bonnie and Meredith; Matt wasn't over Elena and he had a parent buried there. "We don't have to, Matt. I can go home, honest."

He shook his head stubbornly, "We're going. Want my jacket? You look cold..."

She shook her head equally as stubbornly. While most girls looked cute in a guy's letter jacket she simply looked even younger, like a twelve year old being swallowed by her dad's coat. She looked anything, but the cute, alluring teenage girl she wanted to be for this boy.

…...

They'd been sitting on the knoll under the tree by the Gilberts' graves in silence for awhile now, both lost in their own thoughts. Bonnie was remembering how many times she and Meredith had found Elena here over the years and how much she wished she could find her again today. Bonnie doubted they would talk here and certainly not about Elena, that would be too much for Matt.

"Have you heard from them?" Matt's faraway voice startled her out of her own thoughts.

It took a few moments to realize what them he was talking about, two other broken hearts mourning in Italy. "I got a postcard from Stefan about a month ago."

"Me too." Matt said. "It looks pretty there, but he's obviously down."

She wondered at telling him and found she couldn't hold it in. Maybe Matt Honeycutt, poetry in motion, would be just the tiniest bit jealous. "I got a postcard from Damon this week."

"What?" Those blue eyes had a spark of protectiveness in them, as strong as the shock in his voice. "You're kidding me."

"Nope." She laughed, suddenly wanting to assuage the affront in his eyes. It wasn't jealousy, but it was better than the dead man blue he usually sported these days. "I'm pretty sure he was drunk when he wrote it."

"What did it say?"

"I didn't kill your dog." She laughed as she said it and Matt laughed with her. The first laughter this graveyard had heard in a long time.

"Really? Thanks for stating something we already knew." Matt seemed shocked by this.

"Really!" She grabbed her backpack, digging it out. It was a postcard of Florence's naked David and on the back was his elegant scrawl and a few words in Italian. It had come out of the blue and left Bonnie with a fluttering in her stomach that wouldn't leave for days. The fluttering still popped up whenever she thought about it, so different than the tendrils of fear she felt face to face with him.

Matt's face was skeptical as she passed it over to him, "You even carry it, how cute.."

Her fingers wanted to clutch it back, she wasn't that childish. Well maybe she was, but she had a valid reason for this. "I have a reason! He wrote something in Italian and I need a dictionary at the library to look it up!"

He clutched it away from her, studying it and even giving it a sniff. This time Matt's laughter was disgusted, "It even smells like wine! Gosh, he must be a mess."

"We all are." Bonnie said suddenly sober as Matt passed it back, she was staring at the grave again wondering. Elena's effects were still echoing months later and Bonnie was still floundering without her. The grief was sometimes still so overwhelming.

It was clear it was the same for Matt too, his next words were pensive. "A light in the darkness. What do you think our graves will say?"

Bonnie shuddered, like ice water down her back. Young and beautiful in her coffin, maybe they would even bury her near Elena. Matt silently passed her his jacket and she slipped it on gratefully. It smelled like him, like chopped firewood and hard work. She glanced at his blue eyes and felt a sudden stab, he would never be over Elena. "Mine would probably say something like the eternal friend."

If he got the double meaning to her words he didn't let on, he just kept staring at the grave looking lost. Bonnie went on staring at him, her heart aching more for Matt in the moment than for Elena. Had he even grieved? Had he let himself cry once for her? The answer was so obviously no, Matt was struggling with his hurt; letting it rule him by keeping it bottled up.

At that moment it seemed like the worst thing in the world to Bonnie. Matt, handsome, honorable Matt who'd not only given up the girl he'd loved but befriended her vampire boyfriend. Matt, who'd let himself be fed from, Matt who'd fought for Elena for nothing. Matt, stubborn Matt couldn't let it go.

"Don't cry, Bonnie." He was already pulling her into his arms when she realized she was crying, tears running unchecked down her cheeks.

She let herself be cradled there, her voice a protest against his t shirt. "Why not? Somebody should. You don't, Meredith doesn't."

He didn't argue with that, just clutched her as she cried for both Matt and Elena. Eventually, he leaned back until he was lying on his back, cradling her against his chest as she sobbed. When she ran out of tears for Matt and Elena she found more when she thought of Stefan and Damon, grieving somewhere far away with their own suppressed emotions and dry faces. She cried for the other four people who knew the truth and was glad she had enough emotions for all of them.

Even then, she finally ran out of tears, but it was warm snuggled up against Matt, cradled in his jacket and she let exhaustion drift her into sleep.

…...

_Wake up!_ It sounded almost like Elena, but even dreaming Bonnie knew it couldn't be possible.

But Elena's voice was persistent, panicky even. _BONNIE, WAKE UP!_

She woke and wished she hadn't. The sun was setting in the graveyard and her senses were tingling, every one of them screaming at her to get out of here. Someone, no something was watching her. She shook at Matt, trying to get his heavy arm off of herself, "Matt wake up!"

"Elena?" His voice was muddled with sleep, but he was releasing her.

She was on her knees, pulling him up with all her might, glancing over her shoulder. She sounded panicky even to her own ears, "Matt, we have to get out of here! Now!"

He was sitting up, glancing around. Then he was on his feet, pulling her with him. He was trying to calm her, but he sounded uneasy. "Its fine, Bonnie. Its just your imagination..."

It wasn't. She _knew _it wasn't. Something bad, no something evil was going to get them if they didn't get out of here before the sun set. She took one glance at the sun, they had maybe five minutes? Then the buzzing in her mind was pushing at her frantically and she grabbed Matt's hand, pulling him along against the suddenly screaming wind. "Water! We have to get to water!"

Matt had somehow grabbed their backpacks with his other hand as she pulled him down the knoll. The buzzing was too strong now and Bonnie was losing her nerve and her mind. She couldn't do this, couldn't let this thing take them. She took off running, clutching his hand. She thought she was screaming, "Water! It can't cross water." at him, but it might have simply been terrified screams.

They made it, stumbling over the old footbridge and Bonnie's terror kept her running until the graveyard was out of sight and they were halfway down Ash street. Finally, Matt grabbed her around the waist, forcibly slowing her. "Bonnie! Calm down!"

He was out of breath, clutching her like she was a wild horse. He repeated himself and his harsh tone helped her come back to herself, still the hysterical hiccups she had been choking on as she ran. "What on earth happened, Bonnie?"

She shook her head, feeling suddenly ridiculous. Everything supernatural had left Fells Church with the Salvatore brothers, she knew that. Matt knew that. "I guess I was having a nightmare...I thought I heard Elena."

He had caught his breath, his blue eyes full of reproach. "We're you dreaming about Katherine chasing Elena?"

"Maybe?" Was she? She was too shaken to remember now, but Matt's eyes were coaching her to her next words. "Yes, that must have been it."

He nodded and was back at ease in the world. The supernatural wasn't his home like it was hers, he wanted nothing more to do with it. She wasn't at ease, but she was getting better at faking it. Still, Matt didn't let go of her hand as he walked her home in the dark. It wasn't a start, but it was something.

And if when she opened her notebook after spring break and it said "Goodnight, Sweetheart" on the last page of her trig notes, she wouldn't give it another thought.

…...


End file.
